luff
The vertical edge of a sail that is closest to the direction of the windThe vertical edge of a sail that is closest to the direction of the wind.
Meaning
4 sensesThe vertical edge of a sail that is closest to the direction of the wind.
By easing the halyard, the luff of the sail was made to sag to leeward.
(nautical) the forward edge of a fore-and-aft sail that is next to the mast
The act of sailing a ship close to the wind.
the act of sailing close to the wind
The roundest part of a ship's bow.
The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.
Translations
1 languagesOrigin
From Old French lof. Collins English Dictionary states that this word is ultimately deriveFrom Old French lof. Collins English Dictionary states that this word is ultimately derived from Middle Dutch loef. Ellert Ekwall's Shakspere's Vocabulary: its etymological elements (1903) related this verb and loof instead to the East Frisian verb lofen, lufen, which would make it cognate to the French term lover.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.